Thursday, May 22, 2014

Today's Action Alert: Meriam Yehya Ibrahim

Meriam, who is eight months pregnant, was raised as an Orthodox Christian, her mother’s religion. Her father, a Muslim, was reportedly absent during her childhood. She was arrested and charged with ‘adultery’ in August 2013 after a family member claimed that she was committing adultery because her marriage was invalid, as her South Sudanese husband is a Christian. The court added the charge of ‘apostasy’ in February 2014 when Meriam asserted that she was a Christian and not a Muslim.Meriam was convicted of both charges on 11 May 2014 and given three days to recant her faith. When she refused, she was sentenced to death for ‘apostasy’ and 100 lashes for ‘adultery’.

This is about religion but it is also about the gendered way religion here is determined. It doesn't matter what Meriam says she is, it doesn't matter that her mother was/is an Orthodox Christian and that she was brought up as one. It is what his father is or was which overrules everything. That her marriage would be argued to be invalid is because Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men, even though Muslim men, in general, are allowed to marry non-Muslim women.

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